News for Hallmark Channel TV Series: When Calls The Heart, Signed Sealed Delivered, Cedar Cove, and More!

TV Series News for the Hallmark Channel.

All details below are from various Hallmark Press Releases...

“When Calls the Heart” is the story of Elizabeth Thatcher, a young teacher accustomed to her high society life, who receives her first classroom post in a small prairie town in the western frontier. Series stars Erin Krakow, Daniel Lissing, and Lori Loughlin.

The drama currently airs Saturday Nights on the Hallmark Channel, from now throughout the month of March. The season finale airs March 29 at (9pm ET/PT, 8C). 12 Episodes in all will complete the first season. Ratings for “When Calls the Heart” have been very good. On the weekend, when the Hallmark Channel premiered “Chance of Romance”, also starring actress Erin Krakow, both programs received more than 2.0 million unduplicated viewers.

When Calls the Heart is the only show on TV - whose story is based on a novel, by a Christian Author, Janette Oke. The series has been brought to the small screen by Executive Producers: Brad Krevoy, Brian Bird and Michael Landon, Jr. 

(details via: Hallmark Press Release / Nielsen Company)

No news, yet, on a season 2 of When Calls the Heart; however, viewers (myself included!) are hopeful!

UPDATED: As of 5/5/2014 - When Calls the Heart has been renewed, by the Hallmark Channel, for a Second Season!

Daniel Lissing, Author Janette Oke, and Erin Krakow

 

“Signed, Sealed, Delivered”, the next New Hallmark Channel Drama Series, will premiere on Easter Sunday – April 20, 2014 at (8pm ET/PT, 7C). The series follows the movie and the lives of four postal detectives who transform themselves into an untraditional team of detectives to track down intended recipients of undeliverable mail. The "creative force" behind "Touched by an Angel"... created and Executive Produced by Martha Williamson, will also be the "creative force" behind "Signed, Sealed, Delivered".

"Series Stars Eric Mabius, Kristin Booth, Crystal Lowe and Geoff Gustafson; Special Guest-Stars Include actress Valerie Harper ("Mary Tyler Moore," "Rhoda") and five-time Emmy(R) winner and two-time Golden Globe(R) nominee Dick Van Dyke" ("The Dick Van Dyke Show," "Diagnosis Murder").  Both stars will portray Supervisors in a revolving role that will feature television icons through the run of season one.

"The time slot represents Hallmark Channel's expansion into Sunday evenings ..."

(source: Hallmark Press Release)

“Cedar Cove” Returns July, 2014 (either the 19th or 20th, currently undecided) with its Second Season, with returning cast members:  Andie MacDowell, Dylan Neal, Teryl Rothery, Sarah Smyth, Brennan Elliott, Bruce Boxleitner and Barbara Niven.

"The first season of the critically acclaimed series... garnered tremendous popularity and success. “Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove” season one premiered on Saturday, July 20, 2013 and was named the #1 primetime program on all of television and the #1 general entertainment program for cable in social media, the night of the premiere. The finale, which aired on Saturday, October 12, 2013, ranked as the top program on cable for Saturday (excluding sports). Over the 13-week run of “Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove” (July 20th - October 12th), the series averaged a 2.0 household rating, making Hallmark Channel the #1 cable network in the Saturday 8-9pm time period."

(source: Hallmark Press Release / Nielsen Company)

Season One of Cedar Cove will also be available on DVD in July!

 

“Chesapeake Shores”  - New Series coming 2015!




"Hallmark Channel announces a partnership with New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods to adapt her cherished 10-part book series, “Chesapeake Shores,” as a potential primetime series premiering in 2015.  Woods, who started writing the Chesapeake Shores novels in 2009, is a successful romance writer of over 100 romance and mystery novels since 1982.  She is frequently on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists with her heartfelt stories featuring genuine family sagas that resonate with readers.  With this latest partnership, Hallmark Channel continues to build successful relationships with bestselling authors to bring their popular works to television viewers. 

The “Chesapeake Shores” series will bring to life Woods’ heartwarming O’Brien family.  The O’Briens are a sprawling, multi- generational clan who reunite in their charming hometown on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay after years apart, to face the memories from their past and learn the importance of reconciliation.   “We are looking forward to working with the multi-talented Sherryl Woods to develop Hallmark Channel’s fourth scripted series,” said Michelle Vicary, Executive Vice President, Programming, Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel. “Woods’ ‘Chesapeake Shores’ series of books truly embodies the emotions of life’s lessons, family and community, that we know will captivate our viewers.”   

“Chesapeake Shores” tells the story of architect and urban planner, Mick O'Brien, who has built the community of Chesapeake Shores from scratch on land once owned by his ancestors.  But the process of developing the town on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay created dissension among Mick and his brothers.  His workaholic lifestyle created problems in his marriage as well, especially when his success took him away from his family for longer and longer periods of time.  When his wife left him, Mick convinced her to leave their five children with him in Chesapeake Shores and then turned them over to his mother Nell to raise.  Now, one by one, those children—now adults—are returning to Chesapeake Shores to make peace with their uninvolved father and with the mother they believe abandoned them.  Mick’s brothers, too, must find a way to make amends and move on.  And at the heart of it all is Nell, the glue that holds this entire family—sons, brothers, sisters, wives and cousins—together.  At its heart, “Chesapeake Shores” is about family, but it's also about community and heartfelt emotions—the kind that can tear families apart and the kind that can make them heal."

(source: Hallmark Press Release)

 

Which Hallmark Channel series is, so far, your favorite?

My family and I are currently enjoying "When Calls the Heart" every Saturday Night on the Hallmark Channel and since I have been an avid reader of the Janette Oke novels for many years now, I have a sentimental attachment to all of her work, and her characters.

This series has been a lovely adventure from the start. At first, I wasn't certain... when I heard there would be new actors in the series, different from the movie, but Erin Krakow, Daniel Lissing, and all the Towns People of Coal Valley quickly won me over. Our family looks forward to watching it together every week! When Calls the Heart is as lovely as a "red, red rose that's newly sprung in June"! 

 

Signed, Sealed, Delivered was a fantastic Premiere Movie, which aired last October (2013) on the Hallmark Channel.

I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderfully weaved story of mystery and I am so looking forward to the upcoming weekly drama.



 

 It is so nice to see Hallmark develop all of these wonderful series. They have created so many family movies, it's nice to see them fill this need for family-friendly weekly drama series, as well.
 

Please share your favorite "Hallmark Series"- in the comment section below !